Light Barrier

Monday.

At 7:30 in the morning, most commuters were just setting off from their homes. It was the busiest time for the subway, and everyone was still on the road.

Despite Dadu’s early morning bustle, most business streets didn’t start operations until 9 a.m. So, at this time, there were typically only a few scattered pedestrians on the sidewalks, and it wasn’t crowded because most shops were still closed.

However, in front of a certain clinic on Lipu Street today, there was already a long queue.

When Zhou Yexin arrived at the Dream Whisperer at 8 a.m., she was shocked. She double-checked. These people were queuing in front of her clinic, and they had come in groups. There was a minibus parked not far away.

“Everyone, please line up in order.” A woman supervised earnestly beside the queue. “No cutting in line.”

The people in line looked sleepy, tired, and numb, but they were unexpectedly obedient.

Zhou Yexin furrowed her brow. This woman looked a little familiar…

She remembered!

It was the lady who had delivered a silk banner to Gu Shen. Now, she was dressed differently, wearing a khaki trench coat over a dress. She looked a few years younger, only about twenty-four or twenty-five years old.

If I remember correctly, this woman’s name is Jiang Wan?

“Hello, Dr. Zhou. Is Dr. Gu arriving soon?” Jiang Wan asked with a smile. “We’ve been waiting here for almost half an hour.”

They’re looking for Gu Shen? Zhou Yexin was stunned and hurriedly opened the door.

After Jiang Wan waved her hand, the people in line slowly entered.

“Did you bring all these people?”

“Due to my work, I come into contact with some patients.” Jiang Wan nodded and smiled. “Dr. Gu’s medical skills are superb, so I wanted to introduce some clients and let him earn some extra money… Right, you charge by commission, right?”

Introducing clients? Zhou Yexin looked at Jiang Wan suspiciously. The more she looked at her, the more she felt that something was off…

Why did she feel that this woman’s motives weren’t simple?

“Don’t misunderstand. I just genuinely admire Dr. Gu’s abilities.” Jiang Wan sighed and smiled helplessly. “I’m twelve years older than Dr. Gu. What ill intentions could I possibly have?”

…

When Gu Shen arrived, he was surprised to see the client crowded with patients.

Business was… better beyond his imagination.

“Little Gu.” Sister Xin pulled Gu Shen aside and whispered, “Jiang Wan introduced these people. I suspect she’s interested in you, so be careful.”

Gu Shen was taken aback.

Sure enough, he saw a familiar face among the crowd.

It was Jiang Wan.

Jiang Wan looked at him with a bright smile… But with Sister Xin’s reminder, this gaze made Gu Shen feel a bit uneasy.

The last person who looked at him this way was Qu Shui.

However, Gu Shen had personally checked Jiang Wan’s dream.

She was just an ordinary person without a transcendental ability. There was no need to worry about her being a second River Shoal murderer.

“There’s something wrong with these people. It seems to be something wrong with their mental state.”

Gu Shen glanced again at the patients in the clinic. These eight patients were all wearing old, worn-out clothes and had lethargic expressions, but this lethargy wasn’t caused by lack of sleep.

His expression became solemn as he said softly to Sister Xin, “No matter what, let’s get to work first.”

He brought the youngest child to one of the enclosed rooms.

This child had a dazed expression, his face full of confusion. After entering the room and sitting down, no matter how Gu Shen asked, the child didn’t say a word and was as unresponsive as a piece of wood. Seeing this situation, Gu Shen directly summoned the Blazing Fire.

Second Level of Deep Sea, Lesser Hypnosis.

Gu Shen directly entered the child’s dream.

It was a pity Tang Qingquan wasn’t present. Otherwise, he would have sighed ruefully… Mr. Tree had sharp eyes despite his age

His judgment of people was spot-on.

In terms of transcendental ability, Gu Shen was someone who couldn’t be judged by common sense.

His Blazing Fire wasn’t one of those inherently powerful high-risk abilities, but it had a lot of potential for growth and developed extremely fast. Of course, this had to do with Gu Shen’s perception.

Just as different infants took varying times to learn to walk, Gu Shen was definitely among the fastest.

Currently, there was only a small strand of the Blazing Fire, and it could only roam in mental spaces. But in Gu Shen’s hands, it could already sweep through most dreams.

“Enter the dream.”

This time, the immersion was extremely quick.

Gu Shen regained consciousness in an instant. He looked at the illusionary mist all around. In this child’s dream, there seemed to be an invisible barrier blocking him, shrouding all the scenery in a layer of fog, severely limiting his vision.

Is this… fog? He couldn’t even see his fingers.

This dream was eerily silent. It was like he was ten thousand leagues under the sea, where all sounds had died away.

The moment Gu Shen raised his hand, the silence was broken.

Whoosh!

The thick fog fractured like a shattered mirror.

The Blazing Fire transformed into a lantern and floated above, illuminating this dream being plagued by a sealed object.

These streets and old alleys are a little familiar.

Gu Shen stared at the weathered walls with children’s graffiti depicting running figures, balloons, birds, and clouds. The walls formed a maze, and the courtyard walls enclosed mansions. Such antiquated buildings generally wouldn’t appear in the modern urban areas of Dadu.

This is Old Town. He understood the identity of this child.

He also understood why the patients were all wearing old clothes.

These people should be residents of Old Town…

After the thick fog was broken, there was still an area shrouded in fog. Gu Shen controlled his dream body, wanting to go deeper, but this dream seemed to have an invisible air wall blocking him.

This is the end. I can’t go any farther. Gu Shen stopped in his tracks with the lantern floating above. The mental imprint left here… is stronger than the Solemn Stone Sculpture’s.

Forcibly removing it was not a problem.

After all, it was only a trace of an imprint.

But what truly attracted Gu Shen’s attention… was the area of thick fog on the other end of the air wall.

In this child’s dream, there’s an area of fog a hundred times thicker. This can only be explained by a sealed object. But if this scene is real, it’s impossible for it to escape the attention of the Adjudication Bureau. Gu Shen pondered. It’s at least at the power of a Class B sealed object.

I’ll remove this child’s mental imprint first and then take a look at the dreams of the others.

With his decision made, Gu Shen flicked his finger and gently tapped the surface of the lantern. This floating lantern flew up with a flick of his finger, turned into countless streams of light, and smashed all over in this foggy dream. Just as Gu Shen had guessed, there were air walls blocking every direction here, limiting the space of this child’s dream.

Wherever the Blazing Fire passed, the fog rapidly dissipated.

For Gu Shen, this process of removing the imprint… was actually a form of cultivation.

Although the transcendental essence was thin, swallowing it could strengthen himself!

After a few breaths, all the fog within the air walls was devoured.

Gu Shen left the dream.

The vacant expression in the child’s eyes gradually faded away. His eyes, which seemed to have been covered with a layer of fog, finally showed signs of clarity… though it was quickly replaced by fatigue.

Gu Shen pushed the door open and left the enclosed room.

“How is it?” Jiang Wan quickly got up and asked anxiously. When she saw the child sleeping soundly at the table inside, her tension eased. It seemed the treatment was successful.

Gu Shen noted her reaction.

“Did you bring all these people?” he asked softly. “Please carry the child to the car.”

Jiang Wan promptly agreed.

At this moment, the door of the other enclosed room was pushed open, revealing Zhou Yexin with a troubled expression. “This person is too strange. He’s like a piece of wood… There’s no reaction at all…”

She seemed to be at her wit’s end.

Indeed.

The hypnosis ability of the pocket watch was limited.

It had been created solely to protect Zhou Yexin, and the last wisp of transcendental power could only ensure the safety of its owner.

“Leave it to me. Sister Xin, just do what you have to do.” Gu Shen smiled. Then he used the Blazing Fire’s hypnotic power to speak. “Everyone else, follow me.”

There were still seven people left. Upon hearing this, they all stood up and followed Gu Shen to the enclosed room.

The Second Level of Deep Sea is Lesser Hypnosis, for individual hypnosis.

The third level is Greater Hypnosis. It spreads from the mind and radiates across an area.

Gu Shen closed the door and looked at the patients standing in a row. He recalled the scene of Han Dang hypnotizing him.

True Words Domain.

Within that mental domain, no matter how many people entered, they would all become fish on Han Dang’s chopping board. Gu Shen could already feel that when his mental power was strong enough to condense and radiate outward, it would form a ‘domain’.

Lesser Hypnosis was mastering the hypnotic power that the Blazing Fire itself possessed.

Greater Hypnosis was to project mental power outward and spread toward the direction of a domain.

Let me try hypnotizing multiple people at once. He took a deep breath.

Gu Shen released the Blazing Fire, which had half-digested Qu Shui’s transcendental essence. The Blazing Fire had grown more than twice as strong as when it was born, but the light spreading out only barely managed to cover the room.

“Enter the dream.”

“Enter the dream.”

“Enter the dream.”

A voice echoed simultaneously in the ears of these people.

The Blazing Fire condensed and gathered into an orb of light.

Gu Shen entered a dream built by his mental power. He had successfully employed Greater Hypnosis and arrived in the foggy dream of Old Town. This time, he ventured far with the lantern. The dreams of these people were like puzzles, each representing an unlocked area. Once connected, there were still air walls present, but the range of activity had greatly expanded.

Fortune Alley.

Lion Alley.

Rui’an Lane.

Holding the lantern to disperse the fog, Gu Shen walked and occasionally stopped. He identified the landscape in the dream along the way and finally recognized a few streets and alleys in Old Town. A detailed map instantly formed in his mind. Through these clear sections of streets and alleys, he confirmed his location.

Then he gazed into the distant depths of the dream shrouded in fog.

He stretched out his hand.

An invisible and solid wall blocked his path.

The deepest part of the thick fog…

Impassable, untrodden, unreachable.